This invention relates to agricultural implements. In particular, this invention relates to sectional distribution of a granular product via dense phase transport.
A common problem in many agricultural implements is achieving acceptable sectional distribution of a granular product. It is often desirable for a granular product such as seed or fertilizer to be transported from a central containment unit to a number of spaced apart secondary units. In this way, the granular product can be more easily spread over a large area.
In most agricultural implements, individual grains are pneumatically transported from a central containment unit to a number of secondary containment units. This transport is conventionally performed at a low ratio of the granular product to air. As there is relatively little granular product being transported by a large amount of air, such transport is also known as dilute phase transport.
Such transport is imperfect, however. Often, one of the secondary containment units receives too much or not enough of the granular product. Delivery of too much or not enough product may occur for a number of reasons including variable rates for precision farming, usage at point rows, variations in the metering and distribution at the secondary containment units, the secondary containment units having various sized container volumes, and the like. Thus, there is frequently a need to selectively increase or decrease the rate of feeding from the primary containment unit to the individual secondary containment units.
However, it is difficult to achieve much control in the section distribution of seed using conventional transport. Once the granular product is introduced into the delivery line, it is sent directly to the secondary containment unit. The granular product cannot be stopped mid-line. An inline valve cannot be used to stop the flow of the granular product mid-line because a closed valve would result in a localized accumulation of the granular product at the valve, clogging the line and preventing further transport of the seed. Thus, existing systems are not well-suited for controlling or regulating the flow of granular product to each of the secondary units individually.
Hence, there is a need for an improved way to distribute a granular product from a central containment unit to a plurality of secondary units. In particular, there is a need for a way to distribute a granular product such that the transport of the granular product to each of the secondary containment units can be individually controlled.